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air bubble woes

ok, for all that have been following, I went tand got water, and I'm filling my system now. Oh ya, and my danner was leaking, so I slopped some more silicone grease on the O ring and all is good (I hope). Well, I'm having a terrible time getting out all the air bubbles. I've been pulsing the pump on and off, letting it run, squeezing the tubes, flipping everything all over....all to no avail. And since I added the water wetter the bubbles just got smaller, soapy like.

heres an idea, what if I submersed one of my connections in a bucket of water, unhooked it, and ran the pump so that it pulled water from the bucket and emptied it back in the bucket, then reconnected it under the water.......

Originally posted by plague heres an idea, what if I submersed one of my connections in a bucket of water, unhooked it, and ran the pump so that it pulled water from the bucket and emptied it back in the bucket, then reconnected it under the water.......

That should work, I use a rectangular bucket and disconnect the intake line at the pump. Submerge the pump and line and let it run for about two minutes to bleed the air, then reconnect it with the pump running and submerged. Much easier and faster. If you still have problems after that then Muddocktor is probably correct about the pump pulling air through the seal. It is possible to have a leak so small that it pulls air in but will not leak liquid out.

Submerging an open tube like that works great, sometimes it just takes a while especially if there's soap in the water.

Make sure the intake tube is tight, pumps love to suck air past this one.
The greasing of the o-ring is a good one too. Silicone it if that don't work.
Did you use teflon tape (white, thin plumbing tape) on the hose barb threads? If not, get it. Use about 3-4 wraps around the fitting's threads. I tried the liquid goop once, it's leaks like crazy on pumps.

If all else fails you can make a fill line from an extra hose. I make fill lines on all my systems and it makes filling them so much easier. I never have to worry about bleading my system. I still reccomend fixing the air leak if you have one. A fill line just makes things a lot easier.

well submerging a tube didnt quite turn out the way I hoped, but I think I got it now. There are still some very small bubbles when I turn the pump off, but I dont think it'll ever be perfect. I highly doubt the pump is sucking in air. I have good connections on it..thread tape, clamps. Plus the barbs were a very tight fit, and theres plenty of silicone grease on the ring...it kinda oozed out the sides when I tightened down the front and since hasnt leaked.

Oh and I do have a fill line. I put a T fitting before the pump and some hose with a barb and cap at the end that I fill the system through.

Ya, I have the fill tube (about 7") half full of coolant. It's running now and will be at least all day tomorrow before I put it in. while it's in its test stage, I'm gonna (try to) unlock my XP. Ive never unlocked anything, so this should be a whole new adventure all over again.

Thanks for all your help guys, and like I said earlier, I'll post some pics when I can get my hands on a digi cam next week.

Originally posted by Bender If all else fails you can make a fill line from an extra hose. I make fill lines on all my systems and it makes filling them so much easier. I never have to worry about bleading my system. I still reccomend fixing the air leak if you have one. A fill line just makes things a lot easier.

Didn't think to mention this. My radiator (modified heater core) is mounted vertically to the back of my case, externally with 120mm Panaflos on both sides. The output from the radiator goes to a "T" connection which makes a 90 degree turn going up and down. The down tube goes to inlet of my pump and the up tube is about 8" long and serves as filler and reservoir. Of course I cap that end. Cheap, simple, effective and saves a lot of room inside the case. I have used this method for over 18 months and am currently using it on 3 systems. It's a pain to bleed without using a bucket, but once bled works trouble free with virtually no maintenance. All three systems and some of their predecessors run 24/7 with some sort of distributed computing, currently Folding@Home

update

It's been running all night, I just turned it off to see if any bubbles formed. arggggh, 1 in the tube from the pump to the rad, a little less than 1 cm wide. This leads me to believe the pump is drawing in a little air, but the water level in the fill line hasnt changed, and the pump isnt leaking water anymore. and like I said before, all connections are very secure. The other 2 tubes are perfect now though, so I am happier.

I'd like to just stick a syringe in that tube and suck out the bubble, then seal it up

edit: ok, I just shook the pump around and a lot of air is trapped in there. grrrrrrr